The investigative forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs looked into a criminal case connected with large-scale fraud (a group of swindlers stealing money from Russian Standard Bank) and were able to accuse the offenders of setting up a criminal conspiracy.

The results of the inquiry indicate that the perpetrators designed a way of stealing money with the help of bank cards. They managed to crimp a number of post office clerks in Siberia and the Urals and had some of their accomplices employed at the post offices into the bargain. The fraudsters were thus able to open and inspect some letters containing confidential information on the credit card agreements that Russian Standard Bank was sending to its customers. Remarkably, some of the bank’s managers, who were aware of the scheme, used these data to file false information about the creditors into the bank’s database, which enabled the criminals to act under the guise of the unfortunate clients and therefore get the secret passwords and access codes needed to activate a credit card. Then, they withdrew some cash using the numerous street ATMs located in Tyumen, Omsk, and Kurgan Regions.

The law-enforcement agencies have already filed over 60 criminal suits against the group of offenders, with the total damage estimated at more than 11 million RUR. About 200 people have been classed as the fraudsters’ victims. Besides, the leaders of the criminal group have been arrested and accused of setting up and running a criminal conspiracy; given the amount of data the prosecution has against them (there have been recorded 275 instances of crimes), they are now facing up to 15 years in prison and a million-ruble fine. The case is being investigated under the supervision of the public prosecution authorities of Ural Federal District.